filia filiusque
by overchay
Summary: MPreg McShep SLASH. Snippets from the Sheppard and McKay household's lives. All stories within this universe can be found here. Each 'chapter' is a complete story on its own.
1. Morning Sickness

**TITLE:** Morning Sickness  
**SUMMARY:** A week of Rodney McKay's morning sickness.  
**RATING:** PG-13  
**WORD COUNT:** 2,000  
**WARNINGS:** MPreg. Post-Mpreg.  
**CATEGORIES:** Established Relationship. Fluff.  
**PAIRING:** Sheppard/McKay  
**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own any of this. This doesn't belong to me. The characters aren't mine, Atlantis isn't mine. : This is all fake.

* * *

The first morning that Rodney woke up, stomach tossing and turning, he was sure it was a side-effect of whatever he ate the night before, coming up to haunt him in the Ancient's version of a toilet. He spent five minutes on his knees, vomiting pink and orange chunks of alien food that tasted so much better going down. When he finally crawled out of the bathroom, miserable and chilled, he slid back into bed beside John, pressing a now-minty scented kiss to the man's brow before selfishly stealing all the blankets and rolling over.

The second morning that Rodney woke up, sick to his stomach and launching his guts into what passed for a toilet around here, Rodney told himself that it was probably a stomach bug that he had picked up. He spent eight minutes hunched over, heaving whatever was left in his stomach from his 2AM snack of Powerbars. John sat up in bed when he heard the sound of the toilet being flushed, and frowned at the sound of Rodney's quiet groaning. He waited, listening to the sound of Rodney gargling and brushing his teeth, before sliding back under the covers to feign sleep. Rodney slipped into the bed, toasty from John's body wrapped in blankets, and pressed up close to the other man to steal his body heat. Once he managed to warm up a little, he tugged more of the blankets over his own body, leaving John with barely any at all.

The third morning that Rodney woke up to spending his first moments of the day tossing the remains of last night's meager dinner into a toilet that was quite poorly designed for someone spending their mornings throwing up, Rodney merely moaned pitifully and promised to shove Carson's big and pointy needle up his _ass_ if he told him that it wasn't a stomach bug again. He spent nearly a quarter of an hour on the floor, looking and feeling horrible. He was pale and nauseous, and ready to murder whoever managed to get him sick. John was ready this time, and after Rodney trudged out of the bathroom and crawled into their bed, he was enveloped in John's strong arms as soon as the blankets were drawn back up around them both. The soothing feeling of a hand rubbing his back helped Rodney drift back into an easy sleep until he actually needed to be awake for the day.

The fourth morning Rodney spent time on the bathroom floor, he didn't bother placing any blame. He was feeling too sick to his stomach to even bother at this point. Carson told him to come back to the infirmary for some tests if this kept up another day, but he wasn't too sure if he wanted to hear the news. Spending twenty minutes kneeling on a cold hard floor was an experience that Rodney wasn't too keen on repeating, but John came in and started a nice hot shower, exactly the way Rodney liked it. Then, he stripped them both of their clothes once Rodney's mouth no longer tasted like something had died in it and climbed on in. The morning was spent lazing in the shower, John's hands stroking every touchable surface of Rodney's body with a soapy washcloth. It felt nice enough that Rodney didn't bother complaining about the vomiting. Much.

The fifth morning Rodney woke up with an undeniable urge to spew his guts, he raced for the bathroom and knelt on the thoughtfully-placed towels on the floor. But even this act of good-will wasn't going to save John. Carson confirmed it, yesterday. Rodney was pregnant. Again. Rodney would have locked John out of their bedroom last night if he could have. Unfortunately, Atlantis and John were still having a torrid love affair and she would do anything he wished. Including opening their bedroom doors. And Rodney refused to sleep on the couch in his condition. John just laughed at him and got into bed. Rodney wouldn't have slept on the couch even if he didn't have a 'condition'. When Rodney managed to feel less like death and look marginally presentable, he padded out of the bathroom and glared evilly at his sympathetic lover. Not bothering to even attempt to go back to sleep, Rodney dressed hastily and left the room without a second look over at John.

John was planning on lazing around in bed a little longer. He didn't even have to be up and about for another hour. That would give him enough time to get Jaimie washed up, dressed and fed before dropping her off at the 'Jumper Bay. She'd be going with a couple botanists and the two other 'Lantean children who spent most of the day over at the mainland with a group of Athosians who watched over the smaller children. But less than ten minutes later, a dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl in only her pajamas came running into the bedroom and began jumping on the bed.

Rodney must have been very angry to sic their daughter on him this early in the morning. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't like it was entirely John's fault that Rodney was pregnant again. Neither one of them had any idea that it was even possible more than once. Not that the first time hadn't been a shock as well. But Rodney had been no-where near that device since the first time. After Jaimie was delivered via cesarean section, Carson had _assured_ them that this was a one-time thing. The birthing organs were no longer present within a month after their daughter's birth. Yet, somehow, four years later, here he was. Pregnant. Again. And Rodney was still bitching about how it shouldn't have even been possible in the first place.

"Why is Papa mad at you?" the curious girl asked after finally settling down on the bed. John cast a wary eye at her before sighing softly and pulling the gangly child into his lap. She stared up at him with a crooked expression on her face quite reminiscent of her Papa.

"Guess what." John was opting for the 'this is good news and Rodney's just grumpy' tactic. It usually worked wonders on her.

Why the two of them weren't in need of serious couple's management yet was beyond him.

"You're going to have a baby brother," he said proudly, distracting her. This was actually an exciting prospect. As much as he loved Jaimie, some things were just different with a girl. A lot of things. She liked dolls and playing house with some of the Athosian children, much to Rodney's dismay. John had to admit that he was a little disappointed he wasn't going to get to teach her the finer points of football with an attitude towards sports like hers, but Rodney's distaste for her habits was for a much different reason. When John said that there was nothing wrong with their daughter wanting to grow up to be a housewife, Rodney spent the next few nights in the lab, ignoring a very confused Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. According to Carson, it had something to do with common stereotypes and, well, a lot of other stuff that John never figured Rodney to get so uptight over based on how he talked about women.

Apparently it was a different story when that 'woman' is your little girl.

The sixth morning Rodney woke up with morning sickness, he dragged John out of bed along with him, telling his partner that if he was going to suffer, then John was going to suffer right along with him. John didn't dare tell Rodney that he already _was_ suffering. Within a few minutes of throwing up his stomach's content, John's hand was rubbing Rodney's back as he rode out the nausea and the vomiting for the next fifteen or twenty minutes. Helping his pregnant partner up off of the floor and over to the sink, John stayed there as Rodney brushed his teeth, twice, and gargled with some mouthwash they had gotten from the _Daedalus_.

He was surprised when Rodney didn't immediately leave the bathroom or begin berating him on the dangers of impregnating one's very _male_ lover for a _second_ time. Instead, he turned to face John and buried his face into his shoulder. John's arms went on auto-pilot, wrapping around Rodney's upper body to hold him close, rubbing his back once again. John had found out early on that easiest way to calm or relax Rodney was to rub his back. Depending on the severity of Rodney's moods, it could range anywhere from a swift stroke or two, to a full on massage. Either way, John was more than happy to accommodate his needs. Perhaps it was a ridiculously macho desire of his, or at least that's what Rodney claimed, but John loved to have a reason to hold Rodney in his arms. And this was the only way Rodney would let him.

"You okay?" he dared to ask after a few minutes of silence, his hands gently stroking his partner's back. John was mildly worried about Rodney, actually. He couldn't fathom what it would be like to suddenly find out he was pregnant a first time, let alone a second. He definitely wouldn't be taking it as well as Rodney, not that he's had an exemplary attitude about this whole situation. Not at all. But at least Rodney was coping, which was more than John would be able to say for himself were he in his shoes.

"Just shut up," Rodney muttered into the crook of John's neck, eyes closed and not feeling particularly keen on being at all kind to the other man. This just wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to be at all possible. But they were in an _alien galaxy_, damn it. Of course some things were going to stomp all over science as the 'primitive' earthlings knew it to be. Even back in the Milky Way there were advanced alien races who could do things that humans thought to be 'impossible'. Why should this be any different?

"All right," John said softly, still giving Rodney the attention he was silently asking for without saying another word until their little girl came running in, tugging on her Daddy's tee-shirt as she jumped up and down, demanding breakfast. John just chuckled quietly and drew away from Rodney to pick her up, not-so-casually remarking that she took so well after her Papa.

The mouthing off he recieved after that one immediately prompted John to offer naming rights off to Rodney, once again. Last time around, he had saved that for the big guns. Rodney wanted John to get a vasectomy and John had outright refused. Which was how they ended up with Jaimie Ingrid Sheppard at 0357 on a Tuesday in May. Or, at least, what was a Tuesday in May on Earth. At the wary look Rodney shot him at this declaration, John nodded seriously.

"As long as he doesn't end up Junior," he snorted, giving Rodney a bit of a warning look. He could easily recall Rodney's plans early on for naming Jaimie. They weren't pretty.

The seventh day that Rodney woke up ill, he spent the morning cursing John's sperm and alien technology and morning sickness at nearly four months along in the pregnancy. John got up out of their bed and headed into the bathroom, kneeling by Rodney's side to take up his usual duty of rubbing his back.

"It's getting worse," Rodney moaned as he slid back, away from the toilet. John frowned, kneeling a little closer and thought on it a moment, before daring to ask how so.

"I'm throwing up in the morning, I'm nauseous at lunch time, at dinner time. All the damned time, _Colonel_." That wasn't a good sign. Rodney only called him by his rank these days when he was upset with him. "Yesterday Zelenka was drinking coffee, _coffee!_ and I had to leave the lab to throw up. I hate you," he whined, trailing off at the end a bit before scowling crookedly.

John frowned, remembering how bad it got last time around. It wasn't exactly an experience he wanted to repeat. And he wasn't even the one doing all of the vomiting. Sighing softly, John leaned in to kiss Rodney's forehead, and slowly stood up. Urging Rodney to do the same and brush his teeth, John started up the shower, nice and hot and perfect for Rodney.

Another month of this. And then four months after that of a tired, cranky, sore, and _very_ pregnant Rodney. It would be worth it in the end, definitely. They would have, what Carson said looks like, a son in a little over five months. But would it have hurt for the alien beings to find a way to speed the process up? Morning sickness was something they could both do without.


	2. Postnatal

**TITLE:** Postnatal  
**SUMMARY:** Rodney treats each child differently after they are born.  
**RATING:** PG-13  
**WORD COUNT:** 2,000  
**WARNINGS:** MPreg. Post-Mpreg.  
**CATEGORIES:** Established Relationship. Fluff.  
**PAIRING:** Sheppard/McKay  
**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own any of this. This doesn't belong to me. The characters aren't mine, Atlantis isn't mine. : This is all fake.

* * *

When Jaimie was born, Rodney had a hard time adjusting. He was accustomed to the weight of the baby inside of his body, the way she moved around or pressed against his belly with her tiny feet. Once Carson delivered her, it was like as if Rodney didn't know what to do with her. It wasn't the case.

Rodney hated children as a general rule, but his sister Jeannie was a regular breeder. She had just gotten pregnant with her fourth child right before he last saw her, on their return to Earth. Her youngest, Annie, was constantly being thrust into his arms to hold or feed her while Jeannie kept her hands full with her two little demons. Needless to say, he quickly learned how to properly look over the four-month-old while Andy and Vinnie raised hell and Jeannie tried to stop them. Those were three _long_ days of pure torture.

But with his own child, it had nothing and everything to do with not liking children. Rodney didn't think he was up to being a father. Didn't think he could do it. It didn't help that they had never planned on having a baby. It was just never an option to think about, let alone discuss. Rodney didn't want any child to grow up the way he did, and that was his biggest fear. He didn't understand how he could possibly be a decent father when he never had a decent role model in that area. Rodney was scared of hurting her.

While Rodney's cesarian incision healed, John took care of Jaimie without a second thought to it. He wasn't exactly an expert on child-rearing, but with a few tips from the nursing staff and a few of the marines with younger siblings or nieces and nephews, he was able to do as good a job as any new parent.

Jaimie was a pink-faced, chubby little baby with dark eyes and a wild tuft of hair on the top of her head. John tried to use this point as something to interest Rodney in the baby, but his joke about his hair fell flat when Rodney shot the two of them a withering glare and hobbled off to bed. John was worried for a while about Rodney's lack of interest in their daughter, and the way he seemed to withdraw from everyone and everything, including John.

Jaimie was nearly three months old, the first time Rodney voluntarily held her in his arms for no reason other than to hold her. John was lying in a hospital bed with tubes and wires all over his body and a heart monitor beside him, beeping lazily. He flat-lined sometime in the night, but Carson had managed to stabilize him by morning. Cursing the people on the last planet SGA-1 had visited, the people who had done this to him, Rodney left the infirmary to relieve Lt. Cadman of babysitting duty, to the woman's shock.

Rodney was rarely seen in the weeks that followed Lieutenant Colonal Sheppard's recovery without Jaimie in his arms, clutched to his chest. He didn't want to let her go, so afraid that if something could happen to John, that anything could conceivably happen to Jaimie as well, with or without him there to fuck things up. He had been so afraid of being too important to her, of letting her down, that he had barely been able to look at her. But after John's hospital scare, Jaimie began garnering a lot more attention from her other father, much to everyone's relief.

When John was finally released back to their quarters, he was completely shocked, seeing their baby sleeping across his partner's chest, who was snoring away in their most comfortable chair. He thought he was seeing things at first, until Rodney cracked an eye open and started snapping at him in his usual manner, sounding tired as hell from spending all of his time between Jaimie and the lab and infirmary visits.

In the next few days after that, John was pleasantly surprised to see Rodney taking up the brunt of caring for Jaimie, while John spent his time split between resting and the few duties he had to take care of. He made sure there was time for the baby, but he wasn't needed for every little thing and Rodney didn't put up a fuss. John hadn't been entirely sure he was actually awake and out of the infirmary. He was certain he was dreaming during a few moments in which Rodney stole Jaimie out of his arms to feed her, rather than just stick him with the bottle, or when he caught Rodney singing her to sleep when she was having a fit one night.

Neither one of them ever mentioned the change or the way Rodney had behaved around Jaimie before.

Things were different with Brian. Rodney had begun having problems at the end of his second trimester, and Carson demanded he spend the rest of his pregnancy on bed rest. John wasn't the slightest bit surprised that Rodney complied without any heartfelt complaints. That's how everyone else realized just how serious this was. Everyone else assumed that Rodney would have put up a fight to stay and work, or that John would have to somehow convince him that this was the best move.

Rodney didn't need any convincing. In the first few days after finding out that he was pregnant _again_, Rodney was cross and overly irritated with everything and everyone. Then he and John saw Doctor Beckett for a full prenatal exam and Carson laid it out for them. The pregnancy would be difficult enough as it was due to Rodney's gender. But Rodney was forty and his system had gone through a bit of trauma with Jaimie's birth. They both knew right off the bat that they were going to have a difficult time with their second child.

Rodney took great lengths to ensure he did absolutely everything he could to ease things for the baby's stress levels. He ate only what was on the recommended list that Carson had given him and only spent the most necessary time working in the labs while he was still up and about. John was a great help as well, taking care of anything that he could do on his own so as not to disturb Rodney's rest. He worked hard not to fight with his partner, or do anything to agitate him during the pregnancy as well.

Despite all of that, Brian Anthony Sheppard was born much too early for anyone's liking. Born premature, at only 29 weeks instead of the usual nine months, he was a very sickly baby. There were moments in which Doctor Beckett had feared they were going to lose him. It was actually fortunate, in some ways, that Rodney had complications early on while carrying his and John's son. Carson had foreseen the possibility of a premature birth, or problems with the baby once he was born, and managed to requisition some more suitable equipment and personnel for the infirmary, stating that they needed to be prepared for anything out there. It also didn't hurt that Dr. McKay was on the senior staff of the expedition and vital to keeping the city afloat.

Their only problem was that the Daedalus hadn't returned with the needed equipment by the time Brian decided that he wanted out and he wanted out _now_. There were ten very frightening days proceeding his birth in which no-one was truly sure if he was even going to make it.

When John and Rodney were finally allowed to take their baby home, Rodney refused to let him go unless absolutely necessary. He fed him, changed him, rocked him, and took over taking care of him entirely. He even pushed and pushed with John, until his partner conceded to move Brian's crib into their own bedroom until he was old enough to sleep through the night.

John rarely got a chance to hold his tiny, tiny son. Yet, while he wasn't happy about that, he was relieved that Rodney wasn't going through another bout of depression over their child's birth. He tried to be as understanding as he could, but Rodney made things difficult. It also didn't help that with all of Rodney's time being monopolized by Brian, Jaimie was feeling left out and not understanding why Papa wasn't spending time with her like he used to. It was bad enough that he had just spent a month on bed rest, unable to do most of the things with his daughter that they enjoyed doing together.

Jaimie, fortunately enough, didn't seem to resent Brian for taking up all of Rodney's time. Instead, she seemed only worried. She was a perceptive child enough to the point that she knew that it wasn't normal for a baby to need to be seen down in the infirmary as often as her brother was. She also received a very patient speech from her Papa about how Brian was very small and very fragile and that they almost lost him a few times. Jaimie wasn't too sure how someone could lose a baby, but she nodded in understanding and crawled up onto the couch next to Rodney and gently petted her brother's blond tuft of hair with a smile from her Papa.

Rodney didn't try to ignore Jaimie, in fact, when ever she came to him in pursuit of some sort of attention, he would do what he could without needing to stop watching over, or even holding, Brian closely. But it wasn't the same. Her Daddy brushed her hair and made sure she washed up and brushed her teeth and put on matching socks instead of her Papa. For all of the attention she was losing out by Rodney caring for their newborn son, John more than made up for with spending more time with Jaimie. Sometimes it was hard with his schedule, but he always, always tried to make sure that she wasn't feeling too left out over the baby.

The first time Rodney ever let anyone other than John or the staff in the infirmary hold Brian, was just after Brian learned to crawl around. He was a determined little baby and wanted to, needed to, explore every little thing. He grabbed at anything and everything, trying to see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, and hear it. Rodney was overwhelmed by the fact that he could no longer set Brian down without having to worry for his safety. Elizabeth was shocked when one day, Rodney thrust his son into her arms and told her to pull back her hair unless she was urging for a 'bald chic' look and he immediately began pulling at some sort of display, fingers running across the tiny keys with an experienced ease.

Rodney still continued to absolutely smother Brian with attention, but gradually learned to allow more people to spend more time with him away. John had a hard time not showing his relief at this, especially since it meant that not only was Rodney loosening up the reigns a bit and that even he was going to get to spend more time with his son, but also that he was finally going to be allowed to leave Brian with a babysitter for a few hours. And with Jaimie off on the mainland, playing with the other children, he was able to drag Rodney off to bed to do something other than _sleep_.


End file.
